The 9:01: MLGW weighs high risks, huge rewards of dropping TVA for Bellefonte

The nation’s largest federal utility is selling an unusual piece of property: An unfinished nuclear power plant in northeastern Alabama. The Tennessee Valley Authority has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. (Sept. 12)
AP

The 9:01 is a coffee-fueled weekday column on all things Memphis

In this Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 file photo, two cooling towers can be seen in the reflection of a pond outside of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, in Hollywood, Ala.(Photo11: Brynn Anderson)

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Conservative provocateur Ben Shapiro was at the U of M last night. Here's what he said.

UCF says no to the Tigers' white-out plans. Here's why no one should care.

As Smart City Memphis pointed out, Memphis could use those savings to reduce its property tax to nothing "and still have tens of millions left over." Or a hundred other things, assuming MLGW can find a legal way to hand that money to the city. Maybe that would mean taking some of those fees off of MLGW bills and cutting rates dramatically and improving aging infrastructure. However the city uses the money, putting it mildly, the deal could be a game-changer for the city and its citizens.

But the deal is not without risk. If the plant isn't finished by 2023, as planned, Memphis would be forced to sheepishly return to TVA. MLGW has implied that could result in a less favorable deal for Memphis, where higher rates are the last thing customers need. Can TVA charge Memphis higher rates than elsewhere? That's worth looking at closer. With $12 billion still needed to complete the Bellefonte plant, the possibility of the deal falling through is very real — and rightly concerning for Memphians.

Even if MLGW buys 80 percent of its power from Bellefonte, as proposed, how does that affect our rates when buying the other 20 percent?

And let's not forget the shady, backroom dealing of Bellefonte's chief investor, Franklin Haney, who agreed to pay Trump attorney Michael Cohen $10 million to secure federal funding for the plant, according to an investigative report by The Wall Street Journal.

But even if the deal falls through, Bellefonte advocates say Memphis could also get reduced rates from Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. (MISO), which is already covering parts of Arkansas, just across the Mississippi River.

Memphis and MLGW SHOULD NOT lend their names to a financing scheme promoted by a self interested investor that decided to make a go of a nuclear generation facility that was deemed undoable by the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA has already cannibalized Bellefonte and there is little of any value left on site.

Nuclear Development, LLC has been disingenuous, at best, suggesting that they could lower MLGW ratepayers’ fees by one half. Nuclear Development, LLC has no real idea of what their final costs will be, and as evidenced by recent experiences in Georgia and South Carolina, the costs (and subsequent rates) would eventually be much higher.

MLGW is apparently considering other options, as well, according to The Daily Memphian:

Young said the company’s proposal is one of several options he and the MLGW board are considering. That includes alternative energy sources that MLGW was exploring during Collins’ tenure as head of the utility.

“My sense is that while this is extremely important, we must do what we need to do to make sure it is right for our customers,” Young said. “So, we’re not going to let someone else’s urgency be ours.”

Despite the risks, MLGW officials would be fools if they didn't at least consider the proposal, as they've done since quietly signing a letter of intent in January (so quietly, at least some council members didn't even know about the option until recently).

Yet, MLGW is poised to kill the deal by not signing another letter of intent, Jamie reports:

(Bellefonte representative and former TVA official Bill) McCollum was seeking an updated letter of intent, noting that a Department of Energy loan deadline looms next month. But a wide-ranging MLGW study on power source options is slated to be finished after that deadline, in December, and Young has been hesitant to sign such a letter without further studying the risks and other options, he said.

The Bellefonte Nuclear Plant is on a 1,600-acre site on the Tennessee River near Hollywood, a town of about 1,000 people located 120 miles northeast of Birmingham.(Photo11: TVA)

Bellefonte advocates say the letter is non-binding and needed to advance the plant's application for federal dollars. MLGW says the letter is binding, although it seems like the utility wouldn't be on the hook until officials sign a purchase agreement. And if it is binding, MLGW attorneys could easily work with Bellfonte to clarify the issue.

MLGW shouldn't rush into an agreement with Bellefonte. Study it. Study it carefully. Vet it thoroughly. And do it in full view of the public, which has so main to gain — and lose. But if the deal dies prematurely because MLGW President J.T. Young didn't sign a letter of intent, he should be prepared to explain to all of us exactly why.

What Ben Shapiro said at the U of M

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Ben Shapiro addresses #metoo

Ben Shapiro, the controversial conservative provocateur, was at the University of Memphis last night, speaking to a near-capacity crowd in the Rose Theatre.

Props to Mitchell Koch, the editor-in-chief of the independent student newspaper The Daily Helmsman, who covered Shapiro's appearance from start to finish. Here are some of Shapiro's more controversial remarks, as reported by Koch:

Council lobbies against instant runoffs

It's no secret that the Memphis City Council members are adamantly against trying instant runoff voting in single-member district races in 2019. They were concerned enough that they are requiring citizens to (again) vote on instant runoffs on Nov. 6.

But Tuesday night, the City Council raised eyebrows when it used city resources to lobby for citizens to "vote yes" on all three referenda on the ballot. The referenda would respectively outlaw instant runoffs, allow term-limited council members to seek a third four-year term, and get rid of runoff elections altogether. Twitter reacted swiftly:

So, wear blue. Or white. Or whatever. The important thing is to show up.

Additional reading: Unrelated but perhaps even more odd, The Daily Memphian columnist Michael Nelson writes that he's giving WKNO "the finger" for its upcoming pledge drive (i.e. "nagging" people) to stay on the air. What an odd take.

Is SCS stonewalling? Mike Stewart, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Caucus, is accusing Shelby County Schools of "stonewalling" on a request for the number of school board meetings board member Scott McCormick has missed, as reported by The Daily Memphian. McCormick is running as a Republican in House District 96 against incumbent Democrat Dwayne Thompson.